Cassidy Robinson, center, speaks to a crowd while surrounded by fellow riders after a day on the bike as part of the 10-week Bike Beyond event, which aimed to raise awareness of Type 1 Diabetes. (Courtesy of Cassidy Robinson and Bike Beyond)

Cassidy Robinson, left, speaks to a crowd during the 10-week Bike Beyond event, which aimed to raise awareness of Type 1 Diabetes. The trek took riders from New York to San Francisco. (Courtesy of Cassidy Robinson and Bike Beyond)

A group of 20 riders, 19 living with Type 1 Diabetes, prepares to ride during the Bike Beyond event. Riders traveled between 50 and 70 miles each day for 10 weeks from New York to San Francisco. (Courtesy of Cassidy Robinson and Bike Beyond)

Cassidy Robinson, center, speaks to a crowd while surrounded by fellow riders after a day on the bike as part of the 10-week Bike Beyond event, which aimed to raise awareness of Type 1 Diabetes. (Courtesy of Cassidy Robinson and Bike Beyond)

Cassidy Robinson takes a dip in San Francisco after completing the 10-week Bike Beyond event earlier in August. The ride was completed by 20 cyclists, 19 of whom have Type 1 Diabetes. The event aimed to raise awareness of Type 1 Diabetes. (Courtesy of Cassidy Robinson and Bike Beyond)

Cassidy Robinson, back right, and another rider pose for a photo with four children during one of the group’s dinner table conversations. The group would hold events after each ride to educate the public about Type 1 Diabetes. (Courtesy of Cassidy Robinson and Bike Beyond)

A group of 20 riders, 19 living with Type 1 Diabetes, poses for a photo after completing the 10-week Bike Beyond event in San Francisco. The event aimed to raise awareness of Type 1 Diabetes. (Courtesy of Cassidy Robinson and Bike Beyond)

MISSION VIEJO – After a few years out of state and 10 weeks on a bicycle from New York to San Francisco, Cassidy Robinson admitted it felt good to be relaxing in her home town of Mission Viejo, Thursday, Aug. 24.

The 26-year old, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was two-years old, has spent the last couple years living and working in New York, when a social media post led to an extreme challenge – one she was determined not to pass up.

It was more than two years ago when Robinson, a Capistrano Valley High alumna, noticed a new diabetes awareness platform called Beyond Type 1. The non-profit got its start in early 2015. Robinson was one of its early followers, checking its website daily for new blog posts.

When a post on Instagram was seeking applicants for a cross-country ride, Robinson couldn’t pass up the opportunity. In what she jokingly said was one of the worst videos she’s made, she sent in her request to join and was accepted.

Inspired by her father and the stories he shared from a cross-country ride he did with four college buddies, she gave up her job, apartment and her belongings to join the movement.

Over 10 weeks, Robinson rode 4,248 miles in a group of 20 riders, 19 of whom live with Type 1 diabetes. The final participant was a mom who joined the cause because her daughter was under 18 years old. After each ride, the group would meet with others who dealt with diabetes or were curious to learn more about the disease.

The Saddleback Valley News recently reached out to Robinson to ask about the accomplishment and what it meant to her.

Q. How did you learn of your diagnosis?

A. I don’t remember mine, but in the way that the story has been passed to me by my parents, I have two brothers and the three of us came down with the chicken pox. My brothers recovered in about a week and I was still sick, so my dad took me to the pediatrician’s office, they did blood work and came back with a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. It was after I got out of Mission Hospital that the pediatrician told my parents that he knew as soon as he walked into the room what the diagnosis was going to be because I smelled like maple syrup. It was, I think, a really powerful example of how quickly a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis could be turned around because I was a healthy normal kid before that.

Q. How did you hear about Beyond Type 1 and get involved?

A. I actually remember the introduction of Beyond Type 1. The founding coincided quite closely with me going on an insulin pump (in early 2015), so when I decided I was going to change my management style from daily injections to the insulin pump, I went to the Internet and started Googling about insulin pumps in general and I wanted to be a part of the Diabetics Online Community. I spent a fair amount of time looking for resources and reading every blog I could get my hands on and Beyond Type 1…had all these amazing articles on their website and their Instagram account was what got me involved with them. I’ve been following them ever since in my life in California and in New York where I was living and working the past two years. It was the first thing I would do when I got to work was read the Beyond Type 1 blog to see what the new article was every day.

Q. What motivated you to take on such a huge challenge?

A. For me, the idea of cycling cross country is one of the things I’ve wanted to do for a really long time. My father cycled cross country straight out of college and so I had just heard his stories of riding cross country forever. We’re not a cycling family. I had never seen my father ride a bike until we got back from Bike Beyond. So when I came back from San Francisco, it was on Aug. 15, which was 40 years to the day of when my father went on his trip and so for the first time, we rode our bikes together. We had never ridden our bikes before and we went out for a 15-mile easy ride on the same bikes in which we rode cross country and it was a really powerful moment for me. That will probably stand out in the back of my mind for the rest of my life. I didn’t hesitate at all because this seed had been planted so long ago in my mind that cycling cross country was the epic adventure.

Q. How many people were in this ride and what was the experience like over the 10 weeks?

A. Our team has 20 people living with Type 1 diabetes, 19 of us actually have it. One of our teammates was too young to ride alone, she was 17, so her mother joined us on the ride, which when I think about my diagnosis…the way I think about it is that my parents lived for me until I was about 10-11 years old and I took over management myself. There’s a lot to be said for Type 1 diabetics’ parents and I think this mother really encapsulates that. Her daughter wanted to do something cool and epic and show people that Type 1 diabetes can’t stop you, so she needed her mom’s help. What I found was, we had highs and lows every day, literally in the sense of managing our blood sugar, but also emotionally. I was surprised at how easy it was to cycle, the physicality of it, but it was mentally exhausting to be on a bike and going miles day after day after day. There were five of us that were all teammates working on logistics prior to the trip. We put a lot of effort into scheduling community events every night for as many nights as possible, which allowed us the opportunity to sit at a dinner table and have a conversation either informing local communities who know nothing about diabetes to inform them about Type 1 diabetes, the warning signs and what our lives are like, or it was a small Type 1 diabetes community in these small towns we were in every night and it was connecting with fellow Type 1 diabetics. There’s a connection between diabetics. It’s such an ever present condition that you only (understand) it if you have it. It was really amazing to see so much of America and so many different ecosystems and ways people live, but really the thing that hit us as a team hard was the connections that we made at night around the dinner table…that’s the thing that motivates you to get up at 5 a.m. and pack two vans and a trailer and get on your bike and ride 90 miles. We got 10 weeks of living that every night which was incredible.

Q. Looking back at the goal accomplished, what does it mean to you?

A. It’s hard to materialize it and I think a big part of the reason is that yes, we are off our bikes, as of (Friday, Aug. 25) it will be two weeks since we finished, but we’re off our bikes. I’m not with my team anymore which is really difficult, but what’s happening is that in a large way, we feel like we’ve just started really doing the work that we intended to do when it comes to making an impact in the Type 1 diabetes community. It’s just now that we’re starting to see Facebook posts and Instagram tags to our personal accounts of the people that we met around those dinner tables and going back to school. Their kids are being asked what was the highlight of your summer and what they’re talking about is meeting our team. It’s like, the journey is accomplished because I feel like we’re still in it, but my body feels weird not being on a bike anymore because that was 70-90 miles a day.

Q. Was there anything that stood out to you, say a certain state or city?

A. I was really surprised by how beautiful Kentucky and Ohio were. Ohio and Kentucky, they were kind of dream lands for me, Ohio because it is full of bike paths. We were reflecting on that after riding on highways and…it was a miracle. We loved it while we were doing it. We didn’t know how beautiful it was while we were doing it. Kentucky was surprisingly gorgeous, I think in Kentucky we saw the high and low of socio-economics classes, but the rolling hills of Kentucky were absolutely beautiful. They were really good training for the time when we were riding in Colorado, so I really appreciate them for that.

Q. Do you have any other goals in mind that you would like to accomplish next in the realm of Type 1 diabetes awareness or physical exercise?

A. It’s funny you say that because I was making plans last night (Wednesday, Aug. 23). From the Type 1 diabetes perspective, the hardest thing coming out of our experience is giving up talking about diabetes constantly, giving up that face to face contact. I think when you’re a Type 1 diabetic in public, it makes you a better Type 1 diabetic in private. For me, I’m going to continue to be a Type 1 diabetic in public, that’s how I introduce myself to people. As far as athletic goals, I’m leaving on Monday to go to Northern California to do what was scheduled to be two months of hiking and backpacking in the Sierras. As of last night, I’m not going to be cycling part of the end of October to get back to Southern California for a Type 1 diabetes conference on Catalina Island. So continuing my cycling and my first love, which is backpacking.

Nathan covers crime and public safety for the Daily Breeze. Prior to joining the coverage team in the South Bay, Nathan worked for the Orange County Register, where he covered south Orange County cities and community sports. A freelance play-by-play broadcaster, Nathan can be heard calling high school baseball and community college football games during the spring on his days off.

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